Burning Sands
by Interested Fan
Summary: Continues the story of Yu-Gi-Oh. After the Pharaoh leaves. Joey has been experiencing strange visions every time she sees something from Ancient Egypt, Yugi, Marik, and Ryou have been depressed since the spirits who inhabited the Millennium Items passed on, and terrible accidents have been occurring at Grampa Motou's dig site.
1. Chapter 1

Before reading know that:

Joey, Yugi, Ryou Bakura, and Marik are all girls.

The story is still the same except for the fact mentioned above and the situations that resulted from their gender must be different.

The story begins after Yami left for the afterlife.

"Yug' it's not healthy for you not to eat," I said, trying to convince my best bud to eat well anything. She had been in a depression for a month or so following Yami's lose. It had taken a week for it to truly affect her, but now nothing appeared to be able to get her out of it.

She slowly looked down and poked the now cold eggs I had set in front of her an hour ago. "I just can't Joey," she said sadly, pushing away her plate. She pressed her hands into her lap and shaking overcame her delicate frame.

"Ahh man. No don't cry. Shhh. It'll be alright. Don't do this to me," I ordered in a soft soothing voice. I came around the table away from the sink, where I had been doing the dishes, and wrapped my arms around her, gently rubbing her back as she sobbed quietly into my shoulder.

Yugi's amethyst eyes were filled with unshed tears as her spikey haired head pulled back to look at me. "Sorry Joey didn't mean to go all mushy on you I know you hate that." I smiled at her and shook my head. "Don' worry 'bout it Yug'"

"I think I'll just go back to bed, Joey. Thanks for checking up on me," she said sheepishly rubbing the back of her neck. "Maybe next time I'll actually guilt you into eating something," I said, rolling my eyes. She smiled an went upstairs to her room at the game shop.

I waited patiently until I heard the door close before I let out a frustrated breath. We'd all been trying to get Yugi to cheer up, but Yugi was unconsciously stubborn. Once Yugi locked herself in her room she stayed there for hours. I strolled out the front entrance of the game shop, snatching my bag from the coat rack behind the counter.

I quickly thought over the list of things I had to do today.

Make sure Yugi was okay… Check

Threaten Duke about what will happen if he breaks up with or hurts my sister… Check

Contemplate telling my friends about the fact I am a bestselling author and am now a millionaire due to excellent books sales, decide it sounds like bragging, and decide to keep it a secret… Check

Complete manuscript for sequel to bestselling book three months ahead of schedule… Check

Research ways to bring back ancient spirits from the afterlife… Unchecked

Go to the library and get inspiration for research…Unchecked

I quickly made my way through the museum to stand before the stone tablets that Isis had loaned to the museum and that had as of yet been taken back. The hieroglyph of Seth the High Priest and The Pharaoh, Yami Atem, staring at each other over a fire was just the same as last time I had been here. I pinched the bridge of my nose as a sudden headache ripped its way through my brain bringing with it a set of disjointed images and sound that refused to come into focus.

"Uggh," I groaned. This unfortunately had been happening a lot lately, the images pouring into my head at random times. I wanted to talk to Yugi about it, but I couldn't burden her with this when she was depressed like that. I could try talking to one of the other guys and seeing what they think unfortunately for me I knew them so well I could guess with accuracy what they would do. Tea would insist on telling everyone so that there was no strain on our friendship, Tristan would be confused and suggest asking someone else, Ryou was going through a depression like Yugi (which I found weird since the person in her brain had been an evil psychopath, but hey it was probably more strange for her that the psychopath wasn't there), Mai was on her honeymoon with Valen, I didn't want to tell Serenity, Duke would tell Serenity, and etc.

An annoying, self-confident voice broke in on my mental dilemma. "What are you doing here, Mutt?"

I turned slowly to glare at Moneybags (aka Seto Kaiba). He was standing, tall and ever so egotistical, next to Mokuba, Isis, Marik, and Odion. I opened my mouth to snap at him, but something stopped me. I got really dizzy, feeling numb. I could still see, smell, and do everything except control my own body it was extremely unsettling. With my peripheral vision I watched my eyes glaze over and my face go blank in the reflection of the exhibit.

"Cousin of the Pharaoh, High priest of Egypt, the time has come, demons from the past reemerge, and the Millennium Items awaken. Souls of those gone shall return and forgotten memories will resurface in those who have no clue as to who they once were. The Princess of the Burning Sands, who's spirit mirrors the name of her country, long forgotten by history, shall return to aid the Pharaoh, but be weary without her the world will fall to darkness and if the darkness poison her heart and she chooses to aid it non shall stand in its way."

I blinked as the feeling left my body and I was left standing awkwardly before the group of people. Isis was the first to snap out of shock.

"That sounded like a prophecy…" she said trailing off. I shrugged my shoulders. "Probably was all sorts of weird stuffs been going on lately."

I looked at my watch. "I've got to go. 'm meetin' de gang and need to get goin' anyways. I would just ignore what I said in de creepy voice Moneybags."


	2. Chapter 2

I walked out of the museum quickly making my way through the crowds back to the game shop. Okay it was definitely time to tell the gang about the crazy visions and headaches no more staling.

"Yugiiiiiiii!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, leaping over the counter past Gramps, and taking the steps two at a time up the stairs. The gang all peaked out of Yugi's doorway. "Y'all will never guess what's been happenin' to me."

An Hour Later

"Joey, why didn't you tell us this when it started happening a month ago?" Yugi said, looking annoyed.

"Well you were kinda bein' depressed at de time and I hav' reasons for not tellin' everyone else when it started happenin'." I shrugged my shoulders nonchalantly.

It appeared that my situation had been just what we needed to snap Yugi and Ryou out of their depressions…unfortunately. I almost wish they were depressed again so they would stop glaring at me. Man, remind me to never make them mad again. They're terrifying when they want to be.

"So let me get this straight," Yugi said in an irate tone. "You have been having weird vision around Ancient Egyptian Item." When I nodded affirmation she continued. "And my house is filled with said artifacts." I nodded again. "That means that every time that you have come to my house to check on me, every day since Yami left, for a month that you have been having disjointed visions and did NOT tell me." I nodded, looking down into my lap like a little kid getting scolded by their mother.

"Joey I know your all about solving problems yourself and all but did you seriously have to hide it man?" Tristan exclaimed shaking his head at me.

"What exactly facilitated your prophecy to Kaiba, Joey? Did you look at anything specific or was it just Kaiba's presence that resulted in it?" Ryou asked deciding to have pity on me and changing the subject.

"I don't know I dink it w's de timin' and de fact I w's lookin' at 'im. Something is happenin' and I dink it involves us all."

"What time was it when you ran into Rich boy?"

"It was 11:00, but I don't dink it was de literal timin' Tristan. Maybe it was cause Marik and dem was dere to 'elp Moneybags deal wit it and he won't be able to deny it with witnesses."

"According to Pythagoras 11 is the number of the spiritual messenger," Ryou said, quoting some random trivia fact she had read.

I turned to give her a sarcastic look and froze as dizziness came on as soon as I spotted the Millennium Ring. "Crap" I muttered.

"The Thief King is returning, and you will need to remain steadfast and strong. Remind him of his past before the slaughter of his village. He will need you to guide him, that is why you were chosen to bear the Millennium Ring. It will lead you to the other items as they awaken."

"I did it again. Isn't that freaky?" I shouted, turning to look at my friends. "Joey," Yugi said trying to get me to stop hyperventilating. First time I was in shock, second time I freaked out, and hopefully there would not be a third time. "It will be okay," she said rubbing my back. I began to giggle, which was quite out of character.

"It seem like just a couple of hours ago it was me doin' the comforting and you doin' the emotional overload. Oh wait it was." My laughing took a more hysterical note and got louder.

It took five minutes for me to get it out of my system. I slowly took a breathe. "I think I'm okay now. You can stop hovering."

"You sure man? You freaked out pretty badly just now," Tristan inquired, eyeing me like he expected another bout of temporary insanity.

"I'm fine, I think."

"I wonder why you just did that, Joey?" Ryou asked leaving the question open for debate.

"The freaking out because of strange voices telling of the future and giving warnings or the giving of strange warnings and predictions?"

Tea and Tristan glared at me, Ryou and Yugi looked relieved that I could make a joke, and I sat their innocently. "I'm pretty sure she meant the later Joey," Tea said scathingly.

"I think I figured out what is prompting them though not why it is me that is doing them."

I let the silence after I said this linger waiting for one of them to ask why. "Okay I'll bite. What is prompting them, Joey?" Tea asked shaking her at me.

"Well Kaiba triggered the first one and Ryou's Millennium Ring triggered the second. Moneybags' talked about the Millennium Items awakening and why they were awakening and I'm pretty sure that Ryou's ring has now awakened. That probably means that when the other items' powers wake up I'm going to have weird prophecies concerning the wearers too."

"You mean it's going to happen again…and what do you mean the ring is awake?"

I looked at the ring resting on Ryou's chest. "She should be able to use it to locate things again as well as send people to the Shadow Realm…not that she should try to do that…unless she tries on Moneybags."

"Joey Wheeler we are not sending Seto Kaiba to the Shadow Realm not matter how much of a bastard you think he is." Yugi said in a huff, irritated that I would even suggest sending anyone to the Shadow Realm. Normally I wouldn't wish anyone to the Shadow Realm. I had been there and it was not a pleasant place to be, but for Kaiba I was willing to make an exception. Plus he is the one who forced me to tell my friend about my headaches, and visions by getting me to spout the stupid prophecy though that wasn't really his fault and it probably would have happened sooner or later.

Tea suddenly clapped her hands capturing everyone's attention. "Enough talk about crazy do dah. Let's talk about normal things for a while. Are we still on for that trip to Egypt we were talking about, because Joey was the main nay-sayer about the trip but now that we know why we can work around it. We can go see Grandpa Motou's supposedly cursed dig site and visit all the local stalls in the market place. I bet we can find all sorts of interesting trinkets. Arthur and Rebecca are supposed to be there too."

Tea continued to talk for a while and eventually we started to branch off to different subjects and plans for the future. We talked for hours and all left in high spirits. As I walked home to the apartment that I had previously shared with my dad I thought about the secrets I had yet to share with my friends. 'I'll tell them tomorrow' I thought. 'They had more than enough to think about right now.'


	3. Chapter 3

Joey: "Why'd you make me a girl? Moneybags would be a much betta' girl dan me."

Kaiba: "I find it amusing that you don't want to be a girl but that you are fine with Interested Fan shipping us."

Joey: "What's shipping mean?"

Kaiba: "I mean she wants us in a relationship."

Joey: "She What?"

Kaiba: "Oh my poor Mutt did you not realize what she was doing?"

Joey: Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh! *proceeds to run screaming from the room. *

Interested Fan: Now I have to go catch him. *pouts *

Kaiba: Don't worry I'll help…for now. It is amusing to watch him squirm.

Interested Fan: *sighs * I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh or any of its characters.

"Ring Ring, Ring"

I woke with a start only to glare at the offending device that interrupted my sleep. I quickly pulled the cord out of the wall and rolled over to go back to sleep.

The song Standing Outside The Fire suddenly began playing from my bag which I had thrown onto my dresser the night before. " #$^*&*," I grumbled lurching over to my dresser, tripping on my covers, and cracking my knee on my bedside table. I turned it off not even bothering to see who was calling. I jumped back on my bed and burrowed under the still warm covers. " ^#% wakin' me up so early." I poked my head out of the covers and looked at my alarm clock. 5:00 "Definitely too early."

"BANG BANG BANG"

"Urgh," I looked over at the clock again. 5:30 'Whoever is knockin' on my door is goin' to die and early death. I am not a morning person.' I thought vaguely. I stumbled to my feet and made my way down the hallway to the front door.

"It really is kind of early Seto, not everyone wakes up at the crack of dawn, like you do."

"She's lucky I let her sleep this long, Mokuba." I jerked the door open at the end of this sentence and let my fist fly at the first person shaped blob I could see through my half closed eyes. "Well good morning to you to Mutt," an annoyingly familiar voice grumbled. "IT IS FIVE IN DEH #^&&*% MORNING MONEYBAGS. No sensible person gets up before noon if dey can 'elp it."

"Joey!" Mokuba exclaimed happily, tackling me with a hug. "Good morning kiddo," I said ruffling his hair affectionately. I really couldn't hate Mokuba even though I was still pretty irritable. I saw him as a little brother and was pretty protective of him as a result.

"Get ready Mutt. We need to talk about yesterday." I glared at Moneybags and decided that I wasn't in the mood to argue. I turned and walked back into the apartment, leaving the door wide open. "You can come in to wait if you can stand lowering yourself to my hospitality Seto-Chan~." I knew that last part would irritate him to no end. Take that Kaiba I just used the female honorific on you. "Grrr." I turned back to make the most of the situation. "Keep growling like that and people are gonna start calling you Mutt." I left him to stride down the hallway to get ready.

The Mutt sashayed out of the room leaving me to seethe in her doorway. Mokuba looked up at me and got a weird smile on his face. "You like her don't you?"

I jerked at the question to stare down at my brother like he was crazy. "I worry about you, Mokuba. You're almost as bad as the geek squad when it comes to misinterpreting my reactions." I turned and strode into the Mutt's 'apartment' unfortunately not before I heard Mokuba say. "Yeah right."

I had visited the Mutt's home before and was quite surprised at the differences this time around. Beer bottles and trash had littered a deeply stained carpet, body odor and cigarette smoke were the smells that had hung in a noxious cloud, the furniture had been tattered and worn, and the off white walls were stained by all sort of unimaginable things. Now her apartment was clean with spring green walls and new furniture. The air was clean with the faint trace of lemon cleaning solution. Mokuba was also surprised, I could see it on his face.

I sat down on the sofa wondering, if like all members of the female persuasion, it took her forever to get around. Mokuba came and sat next to me staring curiously at his surroundings.

"How do you think this happened?" He finally asked. "I'm curious about that myself," I muttered under my breath.

The Mutt didn't take very long to shower and get ready. She came out in very, very short cut offs and a green tank top that rose over her waistband a couple of inches instead of her usual baggy jeans and white t-shirt. "We goin' or not?"

She strode confidently out the door expecting me and Mokuba to follow.

"So where are we goin' Moneybags?" she asked after locking her apartment door.

"To my house. Isis, Odion and Marik should be awake by now."

"Can we go get my friends first? Yugi, Ryou, and Tea had a slumber party and Yugi being responsible as she is would have had them go to bed on time. She usually gets up early anyways so the others should be awake too. We don't have to worry about Tristan. He is visiting his sister today and won't be back until tonight."

I gritted my teeth together. Just what I needed the geek squad I already had to deal with the Mutt. They are probably involved though ever since they had come into my life it had been one crazy thing after another and just when I thought I could let myself think it was over it starts all over again. "Fine. They probably need to be there anyway."

Once I answered the Mutt looked much happier. She was probably glad she didn't have to deal with this on her own. "Tanks Kaiba." 'Funny,' I thought as Mokuba and the Mutt chattered away in front of me. 'She calls me by my given name when I do something she wants. She doesn't even sound sarcastic when she says it. She usually manages to make it sound like an insult.'

The drive to the Kame Game Shop was relatively normal except the Mutt was all over the place pushing every button she could reach. I quickly got irritated and started insulting her and we got into one of our usual fights while Mokuba shook his head like an indulgent mother watching her children fight over a new toy.

Then we arrived…

Interested Fan: This is the third chapter for my story and I would really like some reviews. If you have an account on here I will attempt to respond if you have any questions.

If you have any suggestions on what should happen next feel free to share them. I could always use some advice.

Thanks for reading my fan fiction.

P.S. Seriously I would love more reviews.


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